HILLSBORO Star-Journal

BREAKING NEWS

As of 1 p.m. Friday, Hillsboro Community Hospital is under management of Shawnee, Oklahoma-based Cohesive Healthcare Management + Consulting.
Geary County district judge Ryan Rosauer’s late Friday morning ruling appointed Cohesive temporary manager of the hospital after an ex-parte hearing with lawyers for Bank of Hays and the City of Hillsboro. Both parties filed a joint motion late Thursday afternoon asking that Cohesive be appointed receiver.

Although Hillsboro Community Hospital’s utility service was scheduled to be shut off at noon Friday because of $28,644.31 in unpaid bills, someone averted shutoff that morning by paying about half the balance due.
The city was paid $16,664.31 Friday morning, according to a press release sent out by city administrator Larry Paine. Paine declined to say who had made the payment.

Monday’s county commission meeting started and ended with drama.
Before the gavel was struck to begin the meeting, someone —apparently by accident — triggered a panic button in the courthouse security system. In response, sheriff Rob Craft and deputy James Philpott scurried to the commission room to check out what was going on and ensure everything was OK.

Evan Stout, 67, Emporia, was seriously injured Monday when a semi headed north on K-15 crashed into his truck headed east on US-56 at 8:35 p.m.
Jonathan Hewitt, 37, Wichita, failed to stop his 2007 International semi at a stop sign due to dense fog, crashing into Stout’s 2018 Chevrolet Silverado. Hewitt had no apparent injuries, but Stout required assistance to be extricated from his vehicle. Stout was taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita by Marion ambulance.

Maintaining an online presence is increasingly important, but trips to some of Marion County’s city websites show pages that are behind the times.
Goessel is among the municipalities feeling the struggle.

With December clothing expenses of $664.07, including $18.75 in dry cleaning, it would seem the Marion County Sheriff’s Department are the best dressed in the county.
But when looking at cash expenditures independently, the expenses make sense.

US-50 highway began as local stretches of trail roads before being linked together into a transcontinental route running from New York to Los Angeles. In Kansas, it runs from Kansas City to the Colorado line west of Syracuse.
In Marion County, the original touring route zigzagged through the county on trails that took numerous turns, roughly following the present US-50.

What was life like hundreds of years ago for the Osage and other local native tribes? Where are they now?
Annie Wilson of Elmdale, along with Osage tribal elders, cultural experts, artists, land managers, and educators, has developed 60 online lessons on native people of the Flint Hills.

A Bank of Hays petition for mortgage foreclosure against Hillsboro Community Hospital is likely to be a drawn-out process because of the number of defendants who have interests in the matter.
Bank of Hays seeks a court order that the sheriff sell the hospital building and its contents, then distribute the proceeds first to Marion County to cover $322,322 in unpaid property taxes, and next to Bank of Hays toward more than $9.8 million owed on the mortgage, interest, and costs of the lawsuit.

The consensus among car enthusiasts is that when the cold wind blows, the classic cars are stowed away until the spring. Roger Kaiser and his 1934 Ford sedan are bucking that trend.
“I get out and drive it every two or three weeks, I don’t put it in storage,” he said. “It’s the best thing for it.”

Keeping vehicles in good condition is important all year, but consequences change during the winter.
Not being prepared can leave drivers on the side of the road, unfit to take on the elements.

It’s not uncommon for vehicle owners to check their tires or batteries, but how about the headlights?
Most headlight covers are made of plastic, and exposure to sunlight breaks down the plastic coating, producing discoloration that obscures the amount of light put out.

Services for former carpenter and barber John Phillip McClaskey, 82, of Marion, will be 9 a.m. Saturday at Glidden-Ediger Chapel, McPherson. He died Jan. 10 at St. Luke Living Center, Marion.
Burial will be 10:30 a.m. in McPherson Cemetery.

Services for Vivian Mueller, 88, who died Jan. 12, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church, Hillsboro.
Burial will be in Marion Cemetery at 10 a.m. prior to services. Visitation will be 7-8 p.m. Friday at Zeiner Funeral Home, Marion.

I’d love nothing more than to regale you this week with the latest achievements of my multi- talented cat, who as a grand-pet for the past month learned numerous new begging techniques from her grand-mistress.
Or I could seek your sympathy for having torn the front and rear bumpers off my car by striking debris from a semi blowout this weekend while driving back to Illinois, where I found that a coolant leak in the ceiling of my office at the university had sprayed my office equipment and furnishings with a toxic chemical.

The family of Pauline Kristek requests a card shower for her 85th birthday. Cards can be sent to her at 2043 Marc, Salina KS 67401.

Ag Services president Mike Kleiber of Hillsboro, left, recently presented checks totaling $5,000 from Ag Service Inc. and Land O’ Lakes to Kansas Food Bank president and CEO Brian Walker.
The money will be used by the food bank’s Food 4 Kids program to provide weekend packets of food to chronically hungry children in Hillsboro and Whitewater.

A farewell reception will be held for county attorney Courtney Boehm 10:30 a.m. to noon Jan. 22 in the hallway of Marion County Courthouse’s top floor. Refreshments, including cookies and coffee, will be available.
Boehm leaves her position in late January to become a district judge in Geary County.

Hillsboro Police Department recently received new preliminary breath testers that Families and Communities Together purchased using Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition funds.
The new PBTs were approved for Hillsboro because its instruments were the oldest, FACT executive director Ashlee Gann said.

Hillsboro’s school board unanimously approved a 2-year agreement to allow Peabody-Burns high schoolers to participate in Hillsboro’s softball program.
Superintendent Max Heinrichs’ contract was extended through June 2021. Custodian Vickie Huxman announced her retirement after 12 years at the middle school, which will take effect Feb. 1.

For those who may be thinking the Trojan boys’ basketball team has gotten things turned around, not so fast.
Hillsboro’s three-game winning streak dating back to last year came crashing down Friday night at Haven in miserable winter weather, 64-59.

The Hillsboro wrestling team finished 10th of 21 schools at the Halstead Invitational Friday and Saturday with 89½ points.
Jordan Bachman’s second-place finish paced six medalists.

The final two days of the Trojan Classic basketball tournament in Hillsboro have been rescheduled due to this weekend’s threats of inclement weather.
Friday’s second-round action moves a day ahead to Thursday with times and locations remaining the same and championship Saturday moved to Friday.

Goessel boys looked strong and poised in the first half of Friday’s game at home.
The Lindeman brothers had all the Bluebird points in the first quarter, as Dylan intercepted three passes, which led to lay-ups, and Drew popped from the top of the lane as Goessel jumped out to a 10-4 lead at the end of one quarter.